Auburn students eighth most conservative in the country, seventh most into sports

You know that old joke about Auburn being an even bigger Baptist school than Baylor? If religion influences political persuasion, it probably wasn’t really a joke.

Auburn beat out Christian schools and all but one military academy (which we didn’t even know existed—the United States Merchant Marine Academy) on this year’s Princeton Review list of the most conservative college campuses in the country.

Auburn ranked 8th, above Baptist (Baylor was 16th), Methodist, Mormon (BYU was 11th), Catholic, and all-male schools. With the exception of Texas A&M, which was ranked first, Auburn was the only public institution in the Top 10.

The annual review is produced from surveys filled out by approximately 122,000 college students. Auburn scored high in dive of the other Top 20 categories.

We’re 13th in town ‘n’ gown relations, have the 19th highest quality of life, the 10th highest number of future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution (which is determined by responses that suggest “personal political persuasions to be very conservative, low levels of acceptance of the gay community on campus, high levels of popularity for student government on campus, and a very religious student body”), the 13th most religious students (feels like we’re getting redundant here), and there are only seven more student bodies with a better football game attendance record, because only six are more into intercollegiate sports.

And that is why for me Auburn is better as an experience than as a memory. The culture was so aggressively and overwhelmingly conservative that even the slightest non-conformity was seen as a shocking act of rebellion. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.

…oh yes which reminds me that the architecture school is located in the George Wallace building…it would be even better when AU is top 10 in academics nationally (regardless private or public), considering that those top 10 schools are by far some of the most diverse or located in vert diverse communities.

The architecture department is in Dudley Hall, although the Wallace name is on the building’s dedication plaque as he was in office during it’s construction, as do many others on campus. The Haley center bears Lurleen Wallace’s name.

Oscar, since you seem quite willing to smear political conservatives and the religious orthodox as “backwards,” you don’t have a lot of room to criticize others for their lack of tolerance.

Unclaimed Mysteries, I take it that you want Auburn University to be just like everywhere else in the politically correct embrace and even celebration of every act of protest, rebellion, and attention-seeking behavior. For the sake of “non-comformity,” you want Auburn to conform to the culture of every other school.

Between the two of you, I see that tolerance and acceptance just means that everyone tolerates YOU even if you continue to hold them in contempt. And non-conformity means that every environment has the same PC culture so that YOU can let your freak flag fly.

For myself, I don’t see why Auburn shouldn’t reflect the values of its students, its alumni, and the taxpayers who pay for a substantial part of its expenses. The resulting culture will differ from that of other schools, but should we not celebrate that diversity and acknowledge that this is a broad enough country for the occasional school where, say, orthodox Christianity isn’t constantly on the defensive?

Not surprised to see that you believe that during my time at Auburn EVERYONE must have had to tolerate ME. I am of the mind that everyone should be allowed to say what they want to say regardless as to how “PC” or “non-PC” it might be. However, when an institution of “higher learning” has to set up safe zones for students who feel they are being harrassed or oppressed? Sorry but that isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of tolerance and acceptance. It sure was swell for me the day I was called a “terrorist” and a “faggot” for wearing a shemagh that I got from my time in Iraq to class as a scarf in the winter of 2005.

If you want to turn Auburn into some sort of bastion for those like yourself and other “conservative, Orthodox christians” you will not be setting up a culture of diversity. No, the culture you want is “Hey, we’re different because here everybody is the same!” Where is the open minded objectiveness? Where is the challenging of opinions and sharing of ideas? How can Auburn claim to be a “University” the root word of which is “universe” if all it encompasses is the same “values” and “traditions” of those who attend it?

So yeah, “backwards” may not be the correct word but “stagnant” and “sterile” seem fairly apt…

Shorter Bubba: “Help! I’m being oppressed!” The idea that “orthodox Christianity” is on the defensive at Auburn does not even pass the giggle test.

Listen, I was there at a time when in order for WEGL to conduct a simple Sunday night radio interview with a single gay person about life in Auburn, (1) the studio windows had to be papered over and (2) campus security had to LOCK DOWN the quadrant of Haley Center where the studios were located, in response to multiple threats made to the station by mail and phone.

I’m guessing that level of full-tilt boogie hysteria has lessened since then.

I know people who came out of college with their religious commitment fully intact, even strengthened. If your faith is threatened by the mere open expressions of differing opinions, then I suggest the source of your problems lay elsewhere. WDE.

Oscar, who said anything about making Auburn some hermetically sealed environment? I’m just pointing out that if, upon reading a report that Auburn is predominantly conservative and religious, your first response is to sneer about how backwards we are, you might just have your own problems when it comes to being tolerant.

Unclaimed, I didn’t write that Christianity is on the defensive at Auburn. I think it *IS* on the defensive elsewhere — one need look no further than Vandy’s attempts to prevent non-Greek organizations from having sensible membership requirements — and so I don’t think it’s an unalloyed good if Auburn’s culture becomes so very monotonously like every other campus.

I hate that both of you have encountered or heard of instances of people being ignorant and uncivilized, but that’s a function of fallen human nature, not religious devotion or political conservatism. People who are in the predominating culture in *ANY* environment will tend toward boorish behavior to those on the outside. There are plenty of people who faced serious harassment for supporting Prop 8 in California, and you drive a car with a conservative bumper sticker in a blue state at your own peril.

If you didn’t like the people at Auburn, why didn’t you just go to another school? I’m sure there are plenty of schools in the people’s republic of California that might help fags, athiests, and liberals feel more accepted.